As per the studies conducted by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, almost 700,000 US citizens suffer from strokes every year, out of which about two-thirds of the victims survive. Though the rate of survival has increased of late, the number of heart attacks or strokes is the second most cause of mortality rate in the world.

Stroke sometime leads to serious to mild brain injuries. However, the effects may be lessened with some really beneficial physical therapy exercises. The therapy can be commenced within 24 hours after a patient has recovered. So, let’s read this article to learn about these exercises and how they are beneficial.

Movement of Limbs Help in Flexibility

A nurse or professional physical therapist would help patients move their limbs, especially those who are unable to move due to paralysis. An appointed therapist would slowly, softly and gently move the limbs to improve blood flow, maintain flexibility, and prevent tautness. The complete range of motion also helps prevent bedsores.

Exercises of the Muscles for Strength

There are some patients whose stroke is not that severe and some active range of exercises are recommended for them. These include muscle exercise with the help of some light weights or a therapist suggests some muscle exercises against the force of gravity.

Some of the examples are:

• Rotation of the arms.
• Leg and arm lifts.
• Strengthening workouts using light weights or resistance bands to improve strength, muscle mass and endurance.

The 2 significant benefits of these muscle exercises include lessening of spasticity and improved muscle control.

Arm Stretching Lessens Spasticity

Stretching of the arms help in spasticity and professional therapists walk the extra mile to help victims of stroke for improved body movement. Some of the exercises that are suggested by experts include:

• Use of the unaffected arm to create the force required to move a disabled arm. These are known as passive exercises and benefit patients in terms of preventing stiffness of joints and shortening of muscles.
• The arm that is unaffected can also be used to stretch all the fingers and the thumb of the affected hand.

Balance & Coordination Therapies Help Perform Some Tasks

When it comes to coordination exercises, they help stroke victims perform certain tasks such as touching their nose or picking up a pen. Balance exercises, on the other hand, help stroke victims shift their weight back and forward between the right and left legs. This is generally done using parallel bars. Before these exercises are done, a specialist in the field must ensure that the patient has improved his or her strength and range of motions.

Ambulation Helps in Walking

Before one start with ambulation exercises, he or she first needs to work on balance, coordination, and range of motions. Once these goals are accomplished, a physiotherapist helps a patient re-learn walking using parallel bars. Once an individual is through with this, he or she can use a crutch, walker or cane. This has to be continued for some time so that a patient is able to go up stairways and step off and onto to curbs.

So, if someone close to you is facing problems related to stiffness of limbs, hands or arms after a stroke, consult a specialist in physical therapy who has dealt with such victims and helped improve their range of motions after the attack.

About Pieter:

Pieter Reynolds is familiar with well-known physical therapy professionals. He himself has been benefited by this therapeutic technique to improve his health condition. In this article, he has shared information about “How Physical Therapy Help Victims of Stroke?” after collecting information from various sources and from experienced professionals offering physical therapy services in Anaheim.